Dangerous Beers Increase the Likelihood of an ER Visit

Typically speaking, beer is considered to be a beverage that is completely safe to drink. However, this is based on a light to moderate consumption rate. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the rate at which it is consumed.

Across the United States, approximately one in every three visits to the emergency room are a result of injuries that are related to alcohol consumption in some way. A recent study is now suggesting that there is a greater likelihood that some “dangerous beers” will lead an individual to the emergency room than others.

This study was conducted over the length of a full year at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. What it determined was that there are five beer brands that stand out above the rest as being consumed by individuals who found themselves in the emergency room after having injured themselves.

The five dangerous beers brands that were most often consumed by people who wound up in the emergency room were: Bud Light, Bud Ice, Colt 45, Steel Reserve, and Budweiser.

Among those beverages, three of them are malt liquors. These products often contain a higher amount of alcohol than the average beer. Four of the malt liquors made up almost half of all of the beers that were consumed and that then led to a trip to the emergency room. That said, malt liquors make up only 3 percent of the beer that is consumed by the general population, which suggests that this beverage comes with an increased risk of experiencing an injury that could require a trip to the E.R.

Studies that were previously conducted have already determined that alcohol is often a factor in admissions to the emergency room. They are especially prevalent in cases that involve in falls, car accidents, drownings, and homicides, according to David H. Jernigan from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the author of that previous research.

The new study was published within the Substance Use and Misuse journal and it is considered to be the first one to examine the ways in which certain specific brands of liquor are overrepresented.

According to Jernigan, this study’s breakdown of the consumption of alcohol may apply to the general American public, or it could be a trend that is specific to Baltimore. He stated that he is hoping that he and his colleagues will be able to expand their research to others cities in order to find out.